How did cognition evolve? 🧠 On the sandy bottom of Lake Tanganyika, scientists asked wild fish how they make decisions, revealing how two closely related species diverge in surprising ways. Paper ▶️ www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... Story ▶️ www.ab.mpg.de/1452608/news...

Excited to be Guest Editing this Animal Cognition Special Issue on Curiosity and Information-Seeking in Animals, which is also linked to the "Curiosity in Animals" Symposium at @ecbb2026.bsky.social - do get in touch if you have any questions! link.springer.com/collections/...

Laura Simone Lewis@laurasimonelewis.bsky.social · last wk.

I am delighted to be a Guest Editor for a Special Issue in Animal Cognition on Curiosity in Animals (along with @victorajuwon1.bsky.social and @monteirotiago.bsky.social) We seek papers that investigate curiosity across contexts and taxa. Get in touch for more info! link.springer.com/collections/...

How does the brain represent the value of knowledge? In our paper--out now at Nature Neuroscience--we identify a representation of intrinsic information value within neural population structures in the orbitofrontal cortex in mice. www.nature.com/articles/s41593-026-02377-y #neuroskyence 🧠🧪 (1/8)

Representations of the intrinsic value of information in mouse orbitofrontal cortex - Nature Neuroscience

Mice are motivated to seek information of no extrinsic value. Recording neural activity in orbitofrontal cortex reveals a representation of the value of information that is distinct from the value of ...

nature.com

Would chimpanzees or bonobos huddle before a penalty shootout in the World Cup? 🐵⚽ In both species, reassuring body contact promotes social tolerance, read more in our new study led by Jake Brooker out now in @royalsociety.org Proc B. (doi.org/10.1098/rspb...) A thread of the main findings 🧵 (1/10)

Happy to share our review published in The Encyclopaedia of Animal Behaviour (Third Edition): The evolution of diverse intelligences: comparing corvid and cephalopod cognition🐦‍⬛🐙🦑 doi.org/10.1016/B978... We highlight why cephalopods represent an exciting frontier in comparative cognition!

Looking forward to presenting my talk: 'Expectancy violation shapes foraging behaviour in a food caching bird' at the 2.45pm Cognition Session at @isbe2026.bsky.social today - come check it out!

New research! 📚 We built the largest database to date of cephalopod species - octopuses, squids and cuttlefish - and their brains, habitats and behaviors 🐙🧠📈 What did we find?👇 Press release: www.lse.ac.uk/news/ecologi... Paper: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

🌟CONGRATULATIONS🌟 #HarrySuter on his first #PhD publication out now in @royalsociety.org #ProceedingsB 📑Optimal foraging #modelling to better understand #self-control in non-human animals @bristoluni.bsky.social @bristolbiosci.bsky.social #cognition #ECRs #evolution doi.org/10.1098/rspb...

Self-control: changing our perspective on performance

Abstract. To measure self-control in non-human animals, subjects are typically tested on how long they will wait for a larger–later food reward instead of

doi.org

The WISDOM OF CROWDS emerges in flocks of thousands of migrating songbirds! Excited to share our work published by @aaas.org in Science Advances! doi.org/10.1126/scia...

The wisdom of crowds emerges in flocks of thousands of migrating songbirds

Larger flocks of migrating songbirds orient more accurately toward their population’s migratory direction than smaller flocks.

doi.org

New study on the evolution of primate cognition, brain size, sensory and motor functions, prompted by "recent work showing fishes perform as well as primates on various cognitive tests." 🐟🦍🧪 Great to see such broad comparative perspectives driving research. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

Sensorimotor Complexity and Cognition as Predictors of Primate Brain Size

Objectives As animal brain size increases, cognitive performance generally increases. However, other key brain functions, such as the regulation of somatic processes, processing of sensory input, an...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Cuttlefish, squid, and octopuses have excellent memories, use tools, and are adept problem-solvers; they have a concept of time and are capable of delayed gratification. Some scientists think they are conscious (and possibly in a different way than us). www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Do octopus brains work like humans’ — or is there another way to be smart?

Just like vertebrates, cephalopods — such as octopuses and squid — have elaborate brains. Neuroscientists are flocking to them for insights into how intelligence evolved.

nature.com

Did you catch us on BBC One Show this bank holiday Monday? 👀 @cam.ac.uk's very own Dr @victorajuwon1.bsky.social shared his research on cuttlefish curiosity, in collaboration with the Marine Biological Association in Plymouth (@thembauk.bsky.social🫍) Catch it here: www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/epis...

The One Show - 04/05/2026

Comedian Ardal O’Hanlon and stars of Amandaland, Philippa Dunne and Samuel Anderson, join Roman Kemp and JB Gill on the sofa.

bbc.co.uk

Very excited to have been featured on the BBC OneShow last night discussing our team's research at the @thembauk.bsky.social on cephalopod curiosity and intelligence! You can access the clip on Iplayer here: www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/epis... @campsydept.bsky.social @leverhulme.ac.uk

Can chimpanzees prepare for mutually exclusive possibilities individually or collectively? Check out our new paper in Phil Trans @royalsociety.org, led by @drelizabethwarren.bsky.social, and funded by @templetonworld.bsky.social! And stay tuned for the next paper, clarifying the mechanism!

Elizabeth Warren@drelizabethwarren.bsky.social · 4mo ago

New paper alert! 📢 Out now, fully #openaccess, in a special issue of Phil Trans on the evolution of collective intelligence (1/4) royalsocietypublishing.org/rstb/article...

A brief break from science: alongside others’, my 2 pence about Kier Starmer’s recent call for greater UK resilience and closer EU ties. In short, finally - some conviction from the PM! www.theguardian.com/environment/...

For Keir Starmer to talk of national resilience and ignore nature is absurd | Letters

Letters: Responding to an article by the PM, Caroline Lucas says he must be clearer about climate risks, Molly Scott Cato says we must reverse Brexit and Dr Victor Ajuwon applauds Labour’s directness....

theguardian.com

Looking forward to co-chairing a symposium on 'Methods to study curiosity-like behaviours in animals' with @monteirotiago.bsky.social at the European Conference for Behavioural Biology (@ecbb2026.bsky.social). Consider applying by 30th April if your work is curiosity/information-seeking related!

From wag to affect: Tail kinematic signatures of canine emotional states in computer-controlled environments https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.03.01.708848v1

Migrated to Bluesky as I'm excited to share our new paper on collective route memories in homing pigeons: rdcu.be/e73Qk We found flocks remembered old routes better than pigeons flying alone, likely because different birds remembered different parts of the route!

1/2 Ai, the chimpanzee who revolutionized science from Kyoto, has died at the age of 49. She was the first chimpanzee to learn Arabic numerals. Here you can see her in action in Tetsuro Matsuzawa's laboratory.

Excited to be back at the @thembauk.bsky.social studying cuttlefish behaviour - huge thanks to the Marine Biological Association for supporting my work through the Peter Baker Investigatorship this year!

New paper on precise tool use learning in carrion crows @currentbiology.bsky.social. We show that—like New Caledonian crows—expert carrion crows pay close attention to the working end of their tool, suggesting tool integration into their peripersonal space. 🧵 & vids! 👇 www.cell.com/current-biol...

I'm delighted and honoured to receive this award from the Psychonomic Society! Thank you for the recognition and huge thanks to my fantastic co-authors :)

Psychonomic Society@psychonomicsociety.bsky.social · last yr.

The Psychonomic Society is pleased to announce that Victor Ajuwon has been honored with the 2025 Best Article Award for L&B. Congratulations on this well-deserved recognition. Read the paper here: bit.ly/45CAn06 #psynomLB @victorajuwon1 @Dr_AlexSchnell @_MonteiroTiago_ @nickyclayton22

Ever wondered whether other animals are curious? Check out our new paper: Do goldfish like to be informed? Now out in Proceedings of the @royalsociety.org! Co-lead by @monteirotiago.bsky.social during my PhD @biology.ox.ac.uk with Mark Walton and Alex Kacelnik doi.org/10.1098/rspb...

Curiosity is a feature we share with several animals - but new research shows goldfish aren't curious This suggests curiosity isn't just a consequence of basic learning mechanisms & is instead a distinct trait 👇 bit.ly/43nWR2K w/ @victorajuwon1.bsky.social @monteirotiago.bsky.social

Goldfish aren’t curious – but this makes curiosity special

bit.ly